E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & TimesSivaraj the Harijans. Gandhi was not a delegate but he went to Simla andremained throughout the discussions.According to the Wavell plan the Viceroy and Commander- in-Chief would bethe only Englishmen in the Viceroy's Executive Council. All the others would beIndians. Indians would thus take charge of foreign affairs, finance, police, etc.The Viceroy would appoint the Indian members of his Council but he undertookto do so from list of names submitted by the several parties. The Viceroy wouldstill have the right to veto the decisions of the Council, but he promisedpublicly that the veto power 'will of course not be exercised unreasonably.'Most politically Indians took help at his word, for if he abused the veto theIndians could withdraw from the Council and forbid any of their party membersto succeed them; that would have put an end to the Wavell plan and togovernment with popular support.The Simla conference nevertheless failed. Wavell placed the blame on Jinnah.The plan provided for 'equal proportions of Moslems and Caste Hindus,' in theViceroy's Council. The Congress objected. Congress was a much largerorganization than the Moslem League. The whole history of Congress was abattle against differentiating between caste and outcaste Hindus. So eager wasCongress for a settlement, however, that it accepted the formula.Wavell, who worked indefatigably at Simla, then asked the party leaders fortheir lists. All complied except Jinnah. 'I therefore,' Wavell said in a publicstatement, 'made my provisional selections, including certain Moslem Leaguenames... When I explained my solution to Mr. Jinnah, he told me that it wasnot acceptable to the Moslem League, and he was so decided that I felt itwould be useless to continue the discussions.'Jinnah torpedoed the Simla conference for one discernible reason: he insistedthat all Moslems in the Viceroy's Council must be designated by him as theleader of the Moslems of India.The Moslem League had gained strength during the war and won most electionsagainst Moslem candidates who were not in the League. But neither Wavell norwww.mkgandhi.org Page 463